COVID-19 Resources

Small Business Response

Small Business Response Plans

How can cities and towns help the small businesses in their communities survive through COVID-19 and reopen when social distancing becomes less necessary?

MAPC is working with Salem, Arlington, Medford, and the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce on response plans for assisting small businesses. The project was initiated and led by the City of Salem and is funded by District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA).

MAPC is helping municipalities understand the needs of businesses in their communities, planning for an efficient reopening process, and recommending what kinds of assistance businesses will need to stay open.

As the situation changes in real time and municipalities need immediate solutions, MAPC will be providing recommendations and data throughout the planning process. Final action plans will be completed in mid to late May.

As the planning process continues, we hope that our work can act as a template for other municipalities.

Questions?

MAPC stands ready to assist your community and the region during this time.

If you have questions or would like to work with MAPC on a small business response plan, contact Economic Development Manager Betsy Cowan at bcowan@mapc.org.

Response plans will include:

Plan for Reopening

Once social distancing is no longer necessary and non-essential businesses reopen, cities and towns will need to quickly conduct inspections and issues licenses and permits. Response plans will include recommendations for municipal staffing, coordination, and communication during this time.

Understanding Need

The experts on what small businesses need to reopen are the small business owners and employees themselves. MAPC is providing templates and analyzing surveys to make recommendations based on the specific needs of local businesses.

Short- and Long-Term Assistance

Plans will provide recommendations and resources for how municipalities can financially assist small businesses. These might include:

LISC will be offering grants of up to $10,000 to address immediate financial peril, limit layoffs, avoid gaps in employee benefits or insurance, mitigate economic instability and increase the likelihood of business survival. The link to the application will be available online beginning Monday, April 20, and will close on Friday, April 24, and can be found here: https://www.lisc.org/boston/covid-19/small-business-recovery-grant-program/

The Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General (AGO) has committed $500,000 to assisting municipalities and regional planning agencies with the provision of financial relief to local small businesses most impacted by closures, policies, or general loss of revenue due to COVID-19. Municipalities and regional planning agencies will be awarded funds up to $50,000 per request to administer or supplement a grant program targeting local small businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19.

United States Bartenders Guild (USBG) is offering emergency grants for bartenders.

Bartenders, their spouses, or their children can apply for a grant through the Bartender Emergency Assistance Program. Grants are paid directly to recipients who have shown immediate hardship due to COVID-19 within four (4) to six (6) weeks of approval.

Through this Fund, grants will be made to restaurant industry employees who have been impacted by COVID-19, including a decrease in wages or loss of employment. Grants will be awarded as soon as possible to those individuals who meet the prescribed eligibility criteria, as reviewed and verified by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.

BMSF has established a $100,000 response fund to distribute $1,000 grants to individual businesses, based on specific conditions, which may be found here: https://bostonmainstreets.org/covid/

SBA Financial Assistance

The MA Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and Baker-Polito Administration are working closely with the U.S. SBA to activate the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program which would provide assistance to eligible businesses and non-profits impacted by COVID-19.

The first step in this process is to meet a minimum threshold of affected businesses within MA.

Affected small businesses and non-profits should download, complete, and submit the SBA EIDL Worksheet (https://lnkd.in/ewF7VBy ) and Instructions to expedite activation of the EIDL program.

Completed forms can be submitted by email to Disaster.Recovery@mass.gov or by fax to (508) 820-1401. If you do fax the form, please include your email. Please note, this initial survey form is not an SBA loan application.

When the EIDL program is activated, you will be contacted to apply directly to the SBA and this website will be updated with application details. For questions, please contact Disaster.Recovery@mass.gov

About the EIDL program: EIDLs provide small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses until normal operations resume.

Other SBA Programs include:

The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll.As of 4/24/2020, the PPP program has been funded for an additional $310 billion.

SBA Express Bridge Loans: Enables small businesses who currently have a business relationship with an SBA Express Lender to access up to $25,000 quickly.

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance: A Loan Advance of $10,000 that is available to applicants who have been approved for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan; it does not need to be repaid, so you can think of the Advance as a grant for business expenses.

SBA Debt Relief Program: This debt relief program will automatically pay the principal and interest for six months beginning March 27th, 2020 for qualifying new and current holders of 7(a) loans, 504, and microloans.

Employee Retention Credit: The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service launched a refundable tax credit is 50% of up to $10,000 in wages paid by an eligible employer whose business has been financially impacted by COVID-19.

Credit for Sick and Family Leave Small Business Protection: For COVID-19 related reasons, employees receive up to 80 hours of paid sick leave and expanded paid child care leave when employees' children's schools are closed or child care providers are unavailable.Employers with fewer than 50 employees are eligible for an exemption from the requirements to provide leave to care for a child whose school is closed, or child care is unavailable in cases where the viability of the business is threatened.

The WorkShare program is an alternative for employers faced with a cut in workforce. Employers can divide available work between affected employees instead of laying off workers. It allows employees to receive a part of their unemployment insurance (UI) benefits while working reduced hours.

Small Business Owner’s Guide to the CARES Act: Information about the major programs and initiatives available from the Small Business Administration (SBA), including for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations with fewer than 500 employees

MGCC is supporting Massachusetts small businesses owners by providing application assistance and multilingual translation services for the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Resources for PPP are available in English as well as 19 other languages. TA Providers will work one-on-one with small business owners in their preferred language.

Similar to residential tenants, small businesses are also not subject to late fees or negative credit bureau reporting if they submit a form of notice to their landlord within 30 days of missed rent payment. Small businesses must submit two forms:

MAPC

Promoting Smart Growth & Regional Planning

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is the regional planning agency serving the people who live and work in the 101 cities and towns of Metropolitan Boston. Our mission is to promote smart growth and regional collaboration. Our regional plan, MetroFuture, guides our work as we engage the public in responsible stewardship of our region’s future.